


No Predictable Little Nativities from Ben (From the Post Room)

by terotearena



Category: The Smoking Room
Genre: First Kiss, M/M, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Typical Holiday Self-Loathing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:48:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25669225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/terotearena/pseuds/terotearena
Summary: Set after the Christmas Special, inspired by that last shot of Ben grabbing the mistletoe, and fueled by the desire to give Robin his deserved happy ending.
Relationships: Ben/Robin (Smoking Room), Ben/Robin (The Smoking Room)
Kudos: 2





	No Predictable Little Nativities from Ben (From the Post Room)

**Author's Note:**

> **UN-BETAED, BABY!** Plus, I don’t really write stuff so I apologize for my horrible writing. Also, the fandom for this show is literally non-existent (but there are tags here! YAY!) so I don’t even know why I bother posting this BUT! I LOVE THIS SHOW, I LOVE ROBIN, LET’S GOOOOO
> 
> Disclaimer: I don’t own these characters, they’re not real, this didn’t happen in the show (spoiler?), yada-yada. Enjoy?

“Robin!”

  
Robin turned around to see Ben, still in his snowman costume sans the admittedly nightmare-inducing headgear and gloves, jogging towards him. 

  
Robin coincidentally just lit up his last cigarette for the day when everyone started rushing home, but he didn’t want to waste it so he decided to smoke it until it’s short enough to burn him a little, you know, like any normal person would do. Also, it’s not like he had any plan for the night, or anyone to go home to, or anything at all, really, for Christmas. _Merry Christmas to him!_

  
Half of the lighting in the hallway was already off and he was sure he’s going to be the last one to use the smoking room (as per usual), so he thought no one, save for the night-shift guards, was still in the building, so the sight of Ben, _gorgeous Ben from the Post Room_ , was a nice surprise. 

  
“Hey, uh, Ben.” Robin managed to greet after he started to think of joking about the sight of a sweating snowman, then being distracted by the thought of wiping those sweat beads down with his own skin. _‘NO, not now, not here,’_ Robin thought to himself, shaking his head with mild disgust, instead asking Ben “Why are you still wearing that thing?” 

  
“Oh, shit, I forgot I’m still in this. I was going to change in the smoking room but I thought since I’m there, might as well smoke one out first, got weirdly distracted by the snow and passing cars outside, didn’t realize time passes me by despite the lack of company, then I saw this—“ The way he hesitantly brought his arm up made Ben looked like a child who’s about to show their parent something they broke. Robin prepared for the worst, like a man who repeatedly, unintentionally, get dumped by the love of his life (who incidentally was in front of him at the moment). Instead, he took a sharp intake of chilly holiday air when he saw what was in Ben’s hand—the plastic mistletoe from before. There’s a mistletoe between him and Ben. Albeit a fake mistletoe, and technically it should be above them based on the tradition for anything to happen, but it was still between him and Ben, from the Post Room, on Christmas eve. _Okay_. 

  
“Why do you— “ Robin didn’t want to get his hopes up, not when he’s exhausted and just wanted to go lie down after a long day, even when Ben completely overlooked the fact that Robin called him “sugar” earlier like it’s a normal thing to happen between them and giving Robin an arguably more-than-friendly arm rub afterwards. So, he decided to play dumb. “What is that?” 

  
“It’s a prop mistletoe.” Ben paused for a brief moment, staring at Robin (who didn’t realize was holding his breath because he’s totally not getting his hopes up), before asking, “Do you think it works like the real thing? You know, about people kissing under it?” 

  
“Well,” Being condescending was Robin’s go-to response, and the urge to say _‘first of all, it’s fake, and second, it’s a dated tradition that tiptoes towards being problematic with its forcing-people-to-kiss-each-other mechanics’_ didn’t escape Robin immediately, however, it’s Ben, _from the Post Room_ , and if he wanted to kiss him even under the guise of “Christmas tradition,” who is he to deny Ben (and himself) of such opportunity? If he wanted to, anyway. If Ben wanted to snog other people, maybe his ex-fiancée to get her back or whatever random girl he meets at the pub to push his “heterosexuality” to people, so be it. He would be happy for Ben. Seriously. _Merry Christmas to Ben!_ “Clint tried it earlier with Lucy Wu. And it worked. So, that’s a maybe?” His mouth forming a thin line to appear a little reassuring to his unfortunately-just-friend. 

  
It proved to be unsuccessful, though, when Ben fell silent more than Robin can handle, and the duty to keep the conversation running was bestowed upon him by default. “Why, planning of kissing someone tonight?” Robin asked. _'Like, I don’t know, someone in front of you right now?_ _'_ He followed up in his head, because he’s still yearning but the self-hate was just a little bit stronger.

  
Snapping out of his silent state, Ben let out a breathless “Well…,” stealing a look at his occupied hand, eyebrows scrunching up together, head ever-so-slightly nodding. “Actually,” Ben continued, before staring at Robin again, “there is someone I wanted to kiss, for a while now.” The slow rise of the mistletoe on Ben’s hand sent a wave of warmness to Robin’s chest despite being surrounded by winter air, his mouth agape when the prop stopped just above him. “You, Robin.” 

  
Robin blinked, keeping his tears (of joy, _don't get him wrong_ ) from forming, dumbfounded by the moment he found himself in. “Is this really happening?” He asked more to himself than to Ben. “Is this real? I mean, you’re not just taking the piss out of me right now?” Robin incredulously asked, but not without a hint of hope in his voice because _Ben from the Post Room just told him he wanted to kiss him (for a while now!)_.

The taller man visibly misinterpreted the question as regret started creeping up on his face. Robin panicked for a bit before taking it as confirmation that _this is real_ and immediately smiled, gently grabbed Ben’s face, and kissed him. The kiss was as chaste as the holiday itself, and despite the taste of cigarette and coffee from both, the years of repression, apparently not unrequited longing, and just feelings in general catching up on them made it a little sweeter than expected. 

  
Robin was the one to break the kiss, but he didn’t let go of Ben’s face and rest his forehead on the other man's. He wanted to blurt out _'I love you, Ben from the Post Room,'_ instead, he smiled and whispered:

  
“Merry Christmas to us.”

**Author's Note:**

> I need someone to talk to about this little show. Maybe in the comment? (^///^) 
> 
> Also, you can watch the Christmas special here (timed at the scenes that matter the most): [pt. 1](https://youtu.be/4DJdB2YpCl0?t=175), [pt. 2](https://youtu.be/i8ZsIFH66CE?t=81)


End file.
